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Akira Maeda
, born Go Il-myeong (Hangul: 고일명, Hanja: 高日明), is a Japanese mixed martial artist and retired professional wrestler of Korean descent, also known as Kwik-kik-Lee for his time on the British Wrestling show World of Sport. He helped develop the shoot-style of professional wrestling during the late 1980s. Mixed martial arts career Fighting Network RINGS (1991–2002) Maeda would go on to form Fighting Network RINGS in 1991, while Nobuhiko Takada formed Union of Wrestling Force International with most of the Newborn UWF roster. Fighting Network RINGS would no longer bill itself as wrestling in 1997, after the collapse of UWF International. In 1999 he retired from active competition after being defeated in a match against three-time Olympic Gold medalist Alexander Karelin, drawing an incredible gate of $2.5 million. The match gained widespread media coverage, including mentions in the New York Times and Sports Illustrated. Following Maeda's retirement, he switched his promotion's style from shoot-style to competitive mixed martial arts fighting. The new Rings held two King of Kings tournaments, which introduced such mixed martial artists as Fedor Emelianenko, Dan Henderson, Randy Couture, Jeremy Horn and Antônio Rodrigo Nogueira to the Japanese audience. RINGS folded in 2002, due to the growing popularity of PRIDE. Revived Rings (2008–present) When K-1 wanted to start a new MMA brand after their previous attempt with K-1 Romanex, Fighting and Entertainment Group hired Maeda as a consultant for Hero's. However, FEG retired Hero's in February 2008 to team up with former PRIDE staff to create DREAM. Maeda's new project was called The Outsider, an amateur MMA series that uses Hero's rules. RINGS brand was revived for The Outsider series and several events have been held since March 30, 2008. On January 22, 2012, Maeda decisively resurrected the Fighting Network RINGS brand with Battle Genesis: Vol. 9, the continuation of the Battle Genesis series the last event of which was held on September 20, 2001. The event was sanctioned by ZST. Personal life Maeda's interest in martial arts developed as a schoolboy while watching the Ultraman television series. By the time he was in high school, his only interests were motorcycles and karate. Maeda was a third-generation Zainichi Korean prior to naturalization. Championships and accomplishments *'European Union' **European Union Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Fighting Network RINGS' **RINGS Battle Dimensions Tournament (1993–1996) *'New Japan Pro Wrestling' **IWGP Tag Team Championship (2 times) – with Osamu Kido (1) and Nobuhiko Takada (1) **Greatest Wrestlers (Class of 2009) *'Pro Wrestling Illustrated' **PWI ranked him #'40' of the 500 best singles wrestlers during the "PWI Years" in 2003 **PWI ranked him #'13' of the 100 best tag teams during the "PWI Years" with Nobuhiko Takada in 2003 *'Tokyo Sports' **Best Bout (1986)- vs. Tatsumi Fujinami on June 12 **Effort Prize Award (1981) **MVP Award (1989) **Special Grand Prize (1988) **Technique Award (1983) *'Universal Wrestling Federation' **UWF Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'World Wrestling Federation' **WWF International Heavyweight Championship (1 time) *'Wrestling Observer Newsletter awards' **Promoter of the Year (1989) **Wrestler of the Year (1988) **Wrestling Observer Newsletter Hall of Fame (Class of 1996) Category:Fighters Category:RINGS Roster